Sedges have edges

Photo of traveling sedge

The annual and usually predictable traveling sedge hatch on Georgetown Lake, Montana has been anemic this year, to say the least.  After 3 weeks of heartbreak, I think it's time to move on the some of the year's best carping.

To be fair, the fishing is still good up at the lake.  There are daily spinnerfalls of callibaetis and the damsels get going around noon.  The fish will eat a damselfly nymph slow stripped or fished below a dry or bobber.  The sight fishing on sunny days in the shallow flats has been really fun and many of these fish are eating dries as well as your perfectly cast damsel nymph or small leech.  I did see the sedges.  Each day I saw more and more.  Right at dusk, you will see quite a few and if you've never seen the hatch at full bore, you might think it looks ok.  But, it's not.  There should be more bugs, the fish should be so keyed in on them that they eat the dry all day, and it should definitely be going strong by now.  The lake has been full and we had a nice normal wet spring.  Maybe it's still coming; I don't know.

Anyway, it's hot in Montana and so is the fishing.  It's also prime time for giving the trout a break from the summer crowds and exploring all over Montana's carp country.

E-Z Antron damselfly nymph

This fly was shown to me by an old fly tier I met this year.  He swears by it and says it out-fishes everything else at Georgetown.  It is ugly, easy, and apparently effective.  I'll report back after a field test coming soon.

E-Z Antron damselfly nymph

Hook: Size 14-10 (12 for G-town) nymph
Thread: 6/0 black or green
Ribbing: Small diameter copper or gold
Eyes:  Bead chain, burned mono, or the plastic ones
Body: Antron yarn tied in in clumps folded over and wrapped with the wire, one at a time

I was told to fish this on a sinking line with a slow strip retrieve, swimming the fly just off the bottom.  If you have never fished Georgetown Lake, Montana, you should.